Crazy golf cart gets Cowboys Stadium sued

I can't help but think of "Christine," the Stephen King novel made into a movie about an evil out-of-control vintage car when I look at this clip. And it's hard not to keep watching it over and over.

That's one reason Willie Amendola, father of former Texas Tech and now New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola, is filing suit against Cowboys Stadium.

It's the elder Amendola, the head football coach at Spring Dekaney near Houston, who is barreled from behind by the golf cart in December 2011 following the state championship game. He's being interviewed when -- bam! -- the out-of-control cart knocks him and a few others for a loop.

It's fortunate no one was seriously hurt. But nearly 16 months after the incident, Amendola and wife Valerie on Tuesday sued Cowboys Stadium in Dallas County court, and per the seven-page complaint, “They seek monetary relief aggregating over $1,000,000.00.”

That's a cool million Amendola is seeking. Hey, Jerry Jones is no sympathetic figure, but that seems excessive and the late timing seems curious. Amendola was bleeding from his arm, but did continue to do some interviews after Dekaney won the Class 5A Division II state title, 34-14, over Cibolo Steele.

According to the suit, Amendola was indeed hurt, suffering“considerable physical injuries.” But more to the point, says the complaint, when the video of the accident went viral, that caused “Coach Amendola and his wife, great personal embarrassment and mental anguish.”

So if the video had not gone viral, and people sort of chuckled at poor coach Amendola, there may not have been a suit.

"Videos of the incident confirm that ill-trained, unsupervised, and grossly negligent employees,while acting in course and scope of their employment, threw objects into the floor of the motorized cart,which caused the cart to accelerate without manual operation,” says the suit. “The cart crossed and went up the field with the employees in pursuit.

“Struck from behind, without warning, Coach Amendola was thrown back into the floorboard of the cart suffering serious bodily injuries. Coach Amendola heroically had the presence of mind to direct the cart, which he briefly controlled, in such a manner that it avoided striking the head or bodies of numerous others who had fallen. He rolled off the cart when he realized he could not bring it safely to a halt, hitting the stadium floor.”

Amendola's lawyer, Stephen Estes, said his client sustained injuries "severe enough to have back surgery."

In an email to dallasnews.com., Estes wrote, "“Though hurting and very stiff and sore, immediately after being hit, he felt like his primary responsibility was to the players and their parents he was responsible for returning to the Houston area, so he got on the bus with them and returned home that night, rather than seeking care in Dallas. Like many unfortunate victims of preventable negligence, Coach has had his life altered by the unfortunate events of that December day, he is now out of coaching.”

There is negligence there, and Amendola should be ompensated. Maybe not to the tune of $1 million. To steal a plot line from "Seinfeld," maybe JJ could be Amendola's butler for a week.